MANCHESTER — The Board of Mayor and Aldermen could take action Tuesday on a pair of ordinances dealing with the responsibilities of dog handlers for the hygiene habits and deportment of their canines.

Ordinances covering vicious dogs and the removal of dog waste will be in front of the board.

.City officials were alerted several months ago to deficiencies in the ordinance that requires dog handlers to clean up after their pets.

Resident Steven Stefanik, of South Hall Street, pointed out that enforcement of the city’s ordinance was impossible since mere evidence of the deed was not sufficient unless a police or animal control offer witnessed the violation...The amended ordinance would remove the provision that the failure of a person in control of a dog carry an “article or means” to “remove and dispose” of dog feces be witnessed by a police officer to be enforceable...A new ordinance that would govern vicious dogs has been reported out by the board’s Committee on Bills in the Second Reading with a recommendation that it now be considered by the committee on Accounts, Enrollment and Revenue Administration...The proposal sets penalties for dogs that have been found to be “a nuisance, menace or vicious to persons or property.”

Dogs earning such status would be required to be kept muzzled and restrained on a leash by an adult when in public...When on private property, the dog would need to be kept behind a fence sufficient to keep it from roaming at large and the animal would need to be affixed with a tattoo providing an indelible record of its miscreant past...The offending dog would also be required to undergoing spaying or neutering to prevent the appearance of progeny.

Even with the prohibitions limiting the dog’s public wandering, egress from private domains and ability to reproduce, the canine would be required to be enrolled in a behavior modification program, and would be forever barred from any public “off leash” dog park in the city...The city clerk would have to be notified upon the demise of the animal, or its taking up of permanent quarters outside of Manchester’s city limits.

Failure to comport with the ordinance would earn the dog’s owner or handler a violation ticket...